how to distinguish tort sex

[HtVic]

I am wondering can you distinguish sex of a tort when they are still a baby?
I see some online pet stores they are selling a pair(male/female hatchling) for lower price.
that's weird, I thought you can't tell whether the tortoise is girl or boy when they are still small or you can?

---

by the way, I am looking to buy food and water dish(link below)
what size should I get? is small enough? I am thinking eventually they will grow up, no use to spend more money to get another one, so can I buy the large one in the beginning?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006L14C6/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[JoesMum]

The gender of a tortoise is determined by the temperature the eggs were incubated at. Assuming this was in an incubator, there can be a reasonable degree of hope that it's accurate.

TBH unless I was dealing with a known and trusted breeder direct, I would consider it to be anyone's guess when they are very small.

 

[GBtortoises]

TSD-Temperature sex determination, is not a 100% guarantee whatsoever. I incubate all Testudo eggs at higher temperatures (88-90 degrees) to produce female offspring. Yet at these temperatures overall 1 male is being born for about every 4-5 females. The opposite is true of eggs incubated at lower temperatures, below 86 degrees. Mid range temperatures should usually produce a mix of both genders.

There is no way to guarantee the gender of a hatchling tortoise. Some species can be accurately sexed once they're around 2", some take longer to develop. Some individuals may also take longer than others also, so even what may have been an "accurately sexed" tortoise of one gender could actually not be.

The only way to get a certain gender for sure is to buy a tortoise large enough to be certain of.

 

[tortuga_please]

You can buy a larger tortoise or use blood typing, but that is of course somewhat pricey. When they are small there is no way to know for sure and most sites/breeders state quite clearly that they cannot guarantee the gender of juveniles.

 

[Tom]

And for water bowls, the best thing I have found is a terra cotta plant saucer from any hardware or garden store. I have never seen anything I would even use for a tortoise in a pet store.

 

[HtVic]

thanks guys
so I shouldn't trust them, otherwise I probably end up buying two male or female.
and tortoises are very expensive in here
but I really want a male and female tho, because of the price, I can't just buy three or four...sigh...

 

[GBtortoises]

"And for water bowls, the best thing I have found is a terra cotta plant saucer from any hardware or garden store. I have never seen anything I would even use for a tortoise in a pet store."

I agree!

 

[Yvonne G]

You can sometimes go by the shape of the anal scutes, but even that is a guessing game.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

TSD-Temperature sex determination, is not a 100% guarantee whatsoever. I incubate all Testudo eggs at higher temperatures (88-90 degrees) to produce female offspring. Yet at these temperatures overall 1 male is being born for about every 4-5 females. The opposite is true of eggs incubated at lower temperatures, below 86 degrees. Mid range temperatures should usually produce a mix of both genders.

There is no way to guarantee the gender of a hatchling tortoise. Some species can be accurately sexed once they're around 2", some take longer to develop. Some individuals may also take longer than others also, so even what may have been an "accurately sexed" tortoise of one gender could actually not be.

The only way to get a certain gender for sure is to buy a tortoise large enough to be certain of.